Nick Burdi came in and slammed the door shut on a U of L win that was fueled by a suicide squeeze. The Cards are one win away from their second consecutive College World Series.

It was a record crowd at Jim Patterson Stadium, with 5,351 fans in the stands.

Louisville 5, Kennesaw State 3, end 8th

The rally's on in Louisville, where the Cardinals cobbled together three comeback runs to take back the lead it lost to Kennesaw State back in the fourth inning.

Kyle Gibson's suicide squeeze bunt scored Grant Kay, then Nick Solak's crunch-time double to right-center plated the two go-ahead runs. Louisville can now turn to star closer Nick Burdi to get the Cards their Game 1 victory.

Kennesaw State 3, Louisville 2, middle 8th

Kyle McGrath relieved Kyle Funkhouser, who threw seven innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits, five walks. Funkhouser struck out seven, but needed 120 pitches to get through those seven frames.

McGrath had no problem in the eighth, getting star Kennesaw catcher Max Pentecost to pop out. Pentecost is 0 for 3 tonight after getting selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 11th pick in the MLB draft.

Kennesaw State 3, Louisville 2, end 7th

Nick Solak doubled to the gap in right-center field, but Jeff Gardner's slump continued. The left fielder struck out on a dicey check swing, and exchanged words with home-plate umpire Jeff Henrichs as he walked back to the dugout. The tension has risen here at Patterson Stadium.

Literally as I typed that, Alex Chittenden drilled an RBI single to center to score Solak. The crowd, a record 5,351 at Jim Patterson Stadium, erupted with the crack of the bat. They'd been waiting a while for a clutch hit.

Kennesaw State 3, Louisville 1, middle 7th

A hard-hit groundball up the middle helped Kyle Funkhouser get a double play and finish his seventh inning of work. The righty is up to 119 pitches tonight, but he's posted back-to-back 1-2-3 innings after the fourth and fifth innings that cost Louisville the lead. The meat of Louisville's order is due up after the stretch. The Cards can't afford to waste runners like they have -- they've left 10 on base so far.

Kennesaw State 3, Louisville 1, end 6th

Will Solomon has been the mix-up option that Kennesaw State needed. His second strikeout of the night, this time of Kyle Gibson, wasted Louisville's seventh runner in scoring position. The mood here at Patterson Stadium has drastically simmered.

Kennesaw State 3, Louisville 1, middle 5th

Kyle Funkhouser responded well to his fourth- and fifth-inning troubles, striking out two and keeping the deficit at two runs.

Kennesaw State 3, Louisville 1, end 5th

Well, Kennesaw State blinked first, at least in terms of going to the bullpen. Faced with second and third with two outs, Kennesaw State brought in lefty Will Solomon to face Louisville's Corey Ray. The move worked -- Solomon struck out Ray to help Louisville waste two more runners in scoring position. The Cards are up to six runners left on when they're in scoring position.

The final line for Kennesaw starter Jordan Hillyer, who won't factor in a decision: 4 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (earned), 4 walks, 2 strikeouts.

Kennesaw State 3, Louisville 1, middle 5th

Trouble's brewing on U of L's south end of campus. Kennesaw State has pushed Louisville ace Kyle Funkhouser to the max, forcing 95 pitches out of him through just five innings. Kennesaw second baseman Cornell Nixon reached with a walk to start the fifth, then advanced to second on a sacrifice. A wild pitch bounced away from catcher Kyle Gibson, and Nixon sped his way to third. Gibson's throw then trickled into left field and Nixon scored without a challenge.

Kennesaw State 2, Louisville 1, end 4th

Louisville's now wasted four of the five runners it's had in scoring position. The bases were juiced for catcher Kyle Gibson, who'd already gotten on twice tonight, but he turned over on an 0-1 pitch and grounded out to third for a fielder's choice. That's also seven runners left on base.

It's still early, but you have to wonder if the early-inning chances are going to come back to haunt Louisville later tonight. Kennesaw starter Jordan Hillyer has been hittable, but the timely hit only came once.

Kennesaw State 2, Louisville 1, middle 4th

Kennesaw solved the Kyle Funkhouser puzzle, at least for one inning. The Owls plated two in the fourth after loading the bases with one out. Chris McGowan's hard-hit bounding ball to the right skipped off Louisville first baseman Grant Kay's glove and there was no play for second baseman Zach Lucas. A near-miss on a double-play opportunity got Kennesaw its second run.

The inning broke Funkhouser's perfect start -- he'd retired the first nine Kennesaw batters with ease. He did, however, strike out Kennesaw slugger Max Pentecost. He's gotten Pentecost out twice so far. Funkhouser, a sophomore righty with a Division I-leading 13 wins, is up to 76 pitches through the first four innings.

This is the first time the Cards have trailed in the NCAA tournament.

Louisville 1, Kennesaw State 0, end 3rd

Nick Solak's single to left field broke the scoreless tie, plating lead-off man Kyle Gibson, who juuuuuust snuck in around the outstretched glove of Kennesaw catcher Max Pentecost. The Cards were thisclose to scoring in the first two at bats, so it was only a matter of time given the way the game was going.

Kennesaw deserves some props here. First baseman Chris McGowan has made back-to-back nice plays on ground balls, first falling to his right and back-handing a bounding ball for an out in the second. Then, in the third, he back-handed to his left and got another out, just before Solak's go-ahead hit. Kennesaw catcher Max Pentecost, the 11th pick in this year's MLB draft, just gunned down Solak at second on an attempted steal. Bullet throw, too.

Louisville 0, Kennesaw State 0, middle 3rd

Kyle Funkhouser retired the first nine Kennesaw State batters, but lost his streak of 11 consecutive innings with a strikeout.

On a side note, the music here is absolutely 80s. All we're missing is Frank Viola's mustache to make this thing a party.

Louisville 0, Kennesaw State 0, end 2nd

Well the Cards got a pair of, "Oh, hey, you just got drafted" moments tonight. Left fielder Jeff Gardner was picked in the eighth round by the Washington Nationals. Outfielder/pitcher Cole Sturgeon went in the 10th round to the World Series champion Boston Red Sox. That gives Louisville three draftees over the first two days of the MLB draft -- closer Nick Burdi was a second-round pick by the Minnesota Twins.

Meanwhile back at the park, Louisville's wasted two runners in scoring position in two innings. Corey Ray reached third after a single, ground out and a passed ball, but Zach Lucas skied one to left to end the inning.

Louisville 0, Kennesaw State 0, middle 2nd

Kyle Funkhouser, current status: Dealing. Six up, six down for the righty Cards ace. He's struck out two and gotten three groundouts. Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino's in the crowd, by the way.

Louisville 0, Kennesaw State 0, end 1st

Kyle Gibson opened with a line-drive single and Cole Sturgeon moved him to the second with a sac bunt. Jeff Gardner had a chance to break out of his slump when Gibson moved up to third with two outs, but Kennesaw starter Jordan Hillyer walked him. Alex Chittenden grounded into a force-out fielder's choice at short to end the threat.

Louisville 0, Kennesaw State 0, middle 1st

Louisville ace Kyle Funkhouser said Thursday that he knew how good Kennesaw catcher Max Pentecost is. He was the 11th pick in the Major League Baseball draft. But when asked how he'd deal with Pentecost this weekend, Funkhouser said Pentecost had to beat his best stuff. After getting two quick strikes on him, Funkhouser got Pentecost to line out to left field. He goes 1-2-3 to start.

Pre-game ramblings

It's an absolutely magnificent evening for baseball, and we're about 20 minutes away from the first pitch of Game 1 of the super regional between Louisville and Kennesaw State.

The Cards are wearing their home whites with red caps and red lettering. Kennesaw has road yellows with black trim and black lettering, with black hats.

It's 84 degrees with a slight breeze and a handful of clouds in the sky. It'll drop into the 70s around 9 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Before you check out tonight's lineups, here's all you need to know about tonight's matchup: